The present invention relates to the analysis of fluids, including liquids or mixtures thereof.
There are a number of known methods for analyzing gases or liquids. However, all these methods have limited sensitivity. The expenditures required to increase sensitivity increase considerably, with the increase in sensitivity, as is true for many measuring methods.
One way to analyze gases is to ionize the gases in an electron surge ion source and to then perform the analysis proper with the aid of a mass spectrometer, e.g. a quadrupole mass spectrometer. In such a method gases to be examined unavoidably come into contact with the structural elements of the ion source, where they are precipitated. This is a drawback not only because it causes corrosion of the structural components, but particularly also because it gives rise to effects due to prior contaminations which falsify later measurements.